The 3Doodler is an unusual device that its creators, WobbleWorks, Inc., bill as the world's first 3D printing pen. That's as apt a description as any, since you can create rigid three-dimensional art from strands of quickly hardening, liquid plastic with it. It isn't easy to master, but it is fun, and it's capable of making credible art.

After a successful Kickstarter campaign, the 3Doodler is now available directly from WobbleWorks for $99. When ordering a 3Doodler, you can choose between 50 sticks of polylactic acid (PLA) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic that's supplied free with the unit; you can buy additional packets of 25, split between five different colors, at $9.99 each.

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Anatomy of a 3D Pen
At 7.4 inches long and 1.5 inches at its widest point, the 3Doodler most resembles a fat soldering iron, with a metal tip that heats up when you plug the power cord in. At 4.1 ounces, the device is a comfortable weight for its size. The included wall-wart-style power supply adds another 5 ounces. It also comes with the aforementioned plastic sticks, as well as a brief user guide that explains the basics of the pen's operation (though not how to doodle with it).

The hollow tip serves the same function as a 3D printer's extruder. When you insert a stick of PLA or ABS plastic into the back of the 3Doodler, it is drawn into a chamber, where it's heated to the melting point. On top of the pen are Fast and Slow buttons; when you press one of them, the molten—and rapidly solidifying—plastic comes out of the tip of the device. A cooling fan, located beneath a small grille near the top of the pen, keeps the 3Doodler from overheating.

Using the 3Doodler is a bit like 3D printing, but without the printer. While a 3D printer works by extruding either ABS or PLA plastic, layer by layer, to create an object based on instructions in a 3D file, the 3Doodler leaves the creating to your brain and hand. The fact that the plastic cools and rigidifies almost immediately after extrusion lets you, in effect, draw vertically in plastic. The objects you create won't be as solid as those from a 3D printer, but—with a bit of practice—they'll hold together, and they can be intricately structured.

Using the 3Doodler
Before you start using the pen, you'd do well to watch some of the videos on the 3Doodler site. There are instructional videos showing the basics of the pen's operation, as well as clips showing objects being created. Some of the latter videos are by WobbleWorks, while others were submitted by people in the 3Doodler community. There's also a good FAQ on the site.

Getting the 3Doodler up and running is simple enough. Once you plug it in, a red light on the side of the device goes on. A slide switch on the pen's side lets you select the type of plastic you're using (PLA and ABS melt at different temperatures). When the tip is hot, and the light turns green (for PLA) or blue (for ABS), you can then load plastic into the back of the 3Doodler, inserting a stick far enough so that it's gripped by the pen, and is slowly pulled into the pen when you press the Fast button. You press it until the tip starts to extrude plastic, and you're ready to doodle.

You need a surface for the plastic to adhere to. Paper works well, as the hot plastic will adhere to it, and you can pull the object off cleanly when the plastic is cool. The first step in building an object is putting down a two-dimensional base. For instance, to build a cube, you would first draw a square in plastic on the paper. To do this, you gently press the 3Doodler's tip to the paper and press the Fast button as you trace out a square. The 3Doodler may stop in mid-print (and the light turn to red) when the extruder's temperature drops below a certain point; the light will soon turn back to blue or green, and you can resume drawing.

To draw vertically—say, the edges of the cube—you switch to the Slow setting, touch the tip to one of the corners of the square you've made, and slowly draw the pen upward, being sure to keep the plastic strand that emerges taut as you do so. The bottom of the strand will dry and quickly harden. When you've reached the desired height, release the Slow button and pull the pen free. The strand should stand as a column. When you've added columns, you can then bridge them with additional plastic strands, and you can add more plastic for sides and the top.

Another approach is to draw all six faces of the cube in two dimensions on a piece of paper with the 3Doodler, peel the sides off the paper, and then assemble them, "gluing" them together with seams of hot plastic. On the 3Doodler site are a number of stencils of objects, such as the Eiffel Tower, that can be printed out, traced over, and assembled.